I find myself saying the word 'Surely?' over and over again with every update on the situation surrounding Arsenal in this January transfer window.
Surely Arsenal will sign a striker with Champions League up for grabs? Surely we won't let Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leave without a replacement coming in? Surely the club knows an injury to Alexandre Lacazette would leave Eddie Nketiah as the only orthodox option for the rest of the season? Surely, right?
With just over a day left and one of the best opportunities for Arsenal to reach the Champions League and top four places, the Gunners have brought in exactly zero players to the first-team squad. Despite the entire month not seeing a single win and just one goal scored, the urgency to the club’s pursuit of its targets has remained sombre.
The Dusan Vlahovic story dominated for much of the winter window, however, with his move to Juventus confirmed, it appeared that the time spent following the threads had led to little more than discussions on who Arsenal could sign in the time remaining.
However, what has made the situation all the more staggering and frustrating is that currently exiled striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is closing in on a move to Barcelona.
This, according to The Athletic, will be until the end of the season and the two clubs are ‘close’ to an agreement.
Putting it bluntly, prior to Aubameyang’s stripping off his captaincy, he had been in poor form. He hadn’t scored in six league games and had only four Premier League goals to his name.
His exit from the first team setup was coupled with Alexandre Lacazette suddenly showing strong form, two goals and three assists in five games led to Arsenal sitting in fourth place ahead of the new year.
Yet, Lacazette has failed to notch a goal contribution in the entirety of January and neither has current second choice forward Eddie Nketiah. Even with Aubameyang's poor form, surely he could offer something more than just an empty slot in the side? There's that 's' word again.
It seemed obvious that a winter addition would make sense, however, The Athletic’s report claims that Aubameyang’s near exit is not linked in any way to the hint that a new forward will arrive.
In fact, David Ornstein writes that there are no developments regarding a move for Real Sociedad’s Alexander Isak.
This was a real chance for the Gunners to take that step forward towards a return to the Champions League. With no European football and out of both cup competitions, there are seventeen league games, effectively all cup finals, that will determine the short-term future of the club.
Participation in the European elite competition could transform what the team can do in the market this coming summer.
Now only an Alexandre Lacazette injury stands in the way of Eddie Nketiah being the sole orthodox striker option unless something big happens in the remaining hours.
Seeing players such as 23-year-old Artur Cabral who scored 27 goals in 31 matches for Basel join Fiorentina for a staggeringly low fee of €16 million according to Football Italia just fuels that irritation even more.
I understand that the club wishes to move away from the panic buys and poor transfer market decisions. However, players have moved in this window for very reasonable figures, such as Arthur Cabral, Bruno Guimaraes or Tiago Tomas all of who were linked to the club, that could have offered something.
It may be that I sit in 24 hours time lauding the work done to sign whoever pops up surprisingly on deadline day but as of right now, the seconds edging closer to the end of the window, I cannot explain the level of disappointment.
I am wishing that tomorrow brings renewed hope and the fabled forward we need...surely it will?
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